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Steel Cut Oatmeal with Apples, Carrot & Ginger

Much as I like healthy food, I never developed a taste for oatmeal. Au contraire (sorry!) – it used to make me gag. The only exception was instant oatmeal, which had enough sugar and flavour to disguise – or maybe distract me from – the, um, oatmeal-ness.

I haven’t bought instant oatmeal for years, but I know that oats are good for you, so I’ve tried to incorporate them into my diet in various ways.

A number of years ago I found a recipe for oatmeal in Aviva Allen’s Organic Kosher Cookbook that looked like it had potential. Aviva’s recipe calls for steel-cut oats (much less gagworthy than rolled oats, because the individual grains retain their shape), plus it has apples, raisins and cinnamon to add more texture and taste. It’s become my go-to recipe for hot cereal.

I think of oatmeal as a winter food, but it was so rainy and damp this week that I thought I would make it one more time. Not to mention that I’m still trying to integrate my pre-Passover food back into the cupboard, and I wanted (needed?) to use up ingredients I have – like steel cut oats.

Inspired by my go-to recipe – as well as one for Morning Glory Oats that I found online at Joy the Baker – I experimented with my own version of steel cut oatmeal. It incorporates a couple of ingredients that I’d never considered for breakfast before – shredded carrots and candied ginger. I love ginger!

I topped the cereal with Brazil nuts and toasted coconut, and added a bit of almond milk as well. Wow, so many interesting flavours and textures! And probably lots of different nutrients too.

Steel Cut Oatmeal with Apples, Carrot & Ginger

3 c. water

1 c. almond milk

1 c. steel cut oats

1 tsp. cinnamon, or to taste

1 tbsp. diced candied ginger, or to taste

1 c. shredded carrots

1 apple, cubed (I used organic Royal Gala)

1/2 raisins, rinsed in hot water and dried

For garnish:

Brazil nuts, toasted in nonstick frying pan on medium until brown.

Shredded coconut, toasted on medium until starting to brown.

1. Bring water and almond milk to boil in small saucepan.

2. Add cinnamon, candied ginger, carrots, apple and raisins.

3. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer partly covered for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice until desired texture is reached.

4. To serve, garnish with nuts and coconut, toasted if desired, and add more almond milk to cereal bowl to taste.

5. And I almost forgot – a bit of sweetener if you like. I used maple syrup.